The field of the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for item checkout and in certain aspects to retail checkstands or other checkout stands (e.g., a parcel distribution station) that incorporate data readers and other electronic devices. The field of the present disclosure further relates generally to data reading devices, and more particularly to automated devices by which items are conveyed, typically on a conveyor, through a read zone of the data reader by which the items are identified such as, for example, by reading optical codes or RFID (radio frequency identification) tags on the items.
Various types of optical code readers, also known as scanners, such as manual readers, semi-automatic readers and automated readers, are available to acquire and decode the information encoded in optical codes. In a manual reader (e.g., a hand-held type reader or a fixed-position reader), a human operator positions an object relative to the reader to read the optical code associated with the object. In a semi-automatic reader, either checker-assisted or self-checkout, objects are moved one at a time by the user into or through the read zone of the reader and the reader then reads the optical code on the object. In an automated reader (e.g., a portal or tunnel scanner), an object is automatically positioned (e.g., transported through the read zone via a conveying system) relative to the reader, with the reader automatically reading the optical code on the object as the object is passed through the read zone of the reader.
The operation of a portal scanner is therefore much different because items are moved not manually (as in a semi-automatic reader) but automatically through the system, possibly with multiple items present in the read zone at the same time, with the operator intervening for resolving exception conditions, such as failure to read a bar code on an item. The present inventors have recognized that traditional semi-automatic scanner good read/no read indicators may not be suitable for portal scanner systems.